On March 8, Appalachian Trail Conservancy's Bob Proudman stated that there are four proposed power lines that would cross the Appalachian Trail  in the Mid Atlantic region and displayed a map showing the new routes. 

 ATC policy states that new power lines should be aligned with existing lines and the trail fully mitigated. 

Pennsylvania Senator Bob Casey has launched a nationwide petition on his website against the Department of Energy's implementation of the National Interest Electric Transmission Corridor designation.

NIETC designation affects all or portions of 8 states in the Mid-Atlantic and 2 in the Southwest, and is quickly becoming a national program.

 I hope you all will take a moment to sign the petition online- the language is not specific to Pennsylvania. If you are from PA, make sure to send Senator Casey a thank you for being a leader on this important issue.

       Please forward this message to your friends and colleagues.

      Use this link:   http://casey.senate.gov/actions/

 Note:  This is especially for our PA clubs, but certainly the issue has the potential to affect NY-NJTC and PATC too. 

Karen L. Lutz

Regional Director

Appalachian Trail Conservancy - Mid-Atlantic Region

PO Box 625